Boy, 7, dies after being pulled from Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana
PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) – A 7-year-old Chicago boy this week was swimming in Lake Michigan offshore from Northwest Indiana with his grandparents watching him – when a strong current swept him away.
The boy's grandparents tried to save him – but it was too late.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke Friday night to the grieving mother of the boy, Onyx Torres, who had just finished first grade in the Chicago Public Schools system. Onyx was supposed to spend the weekend at his grandparents' vacation house in Northwest Indiana – but now he is gone.
"He was gentleman," said Onyx's mother, Natacha Cruz. "He liked holding doors open for me, and he would get mad if I didn't let him."
Cruz said it was the small things that made Onyx special. He also had a full-throttle passion for cars, his mom said.
"He loved cars," Cruz said. "He wanted to be an engineer."
Late on Thursday afternoon, Onyx was swimming under the watch of his grandparents in near the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Beach. Cruz was back home in Chicago when the phone rang.
"And it's a park ranger calling me, and he tells me that there was an incident - and my son had to be pulled out of the water," Cruz said.
The call came into 911 at 4:50 p.m. that Onyx was missing. He was found in the water near the Ogden Dunes at 5:11 p.m. – 21 minutes later.
"And I'm told that my son was in the water - he was with his grandfather - and a wave took him," Cruz said. "They said that he was about knees-deep. It doesn't make sense."
A witness told the Department of Natural Resources in Indiana that the boy was playing in the waist-deep water – and was then swept deeper by a current. His grandparents eventually lost sight of him.
Cruz: "I don't feel like my baby should have been in the water. It was not a day to be in the water."
De Mar: "What do you mean by that?"
Cruz: "Sixty-degree weather, cold, cold - and the waves, windy."
The National Weather Service on Thursday issued a high-wave and dangerous current warning – known as a Beach Hazards Statement. People were advised to stay out of the water.
"I know it's not my fault," Cruz said. "I just feel like if he was with me, that wouldn't have happened."
So far this year, seven people have drowned in Lake Michigan. Those dangerous swim conditions were also in place throughout the day Friday.
To help cover burial costs for Onyx, a GoFundMe has been set up in his memory.